“Northcutt was fighting for pay equity and women’s representation decades before she gained widespread recognition for her part in Apollo,” said Hellmich. ![]() In conjunction with the Smithsonian’s Apollo 11 50th anniversary celebrations this summer, Hellmich researched several women who made the moon landing possible, including Poppy Northcutt, the first woman to work in a technical role in Mission Control. ![]() The experiences of women working in NASA’s Apollo space program in the 1960s resonated with Maddi Hellmich, an undergraduate student at Indiana State University. “This was the first time I’ve been given the resources, time and leadership to dive into my own history,” said Makia Jones, an intern at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “This was the first time I’ve been given the resources, time and leadership to dive into my own history,” Jones said. Researching the story of writer Harriet Jacobs, an enslaved woman born in 1813 who kept a journal of her life experiences-now in the museum’s collection-revealed parallels with today’s #MeToo movement and issues of racial injustice, she said. She said the internship provided her an invaluable opportunity to connect with her own African American heritage. Makia Jones, a recent University of Denver graduate, spent the summer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture planning a digital engagement campaign for Women’s History Month 2020. They cited hands-on mentorship, practical discussions with Smithsonian staff and discovering historic role models as highlights of the program. The first-time internships, funded under the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative- Because of Her Story-provided stipends and housing to a cohort of undergraduates, recent graduates and graduate students selected through a competitive application process.Īs they wrapped up their Smithsonian assignments this month, interns reflected on their summer experience and individual research projects, which included studying the skeletal remains of 19th century African American women planning a major traveling exhibition on the history of American girlhood and writing about the women who worked on the Apollo space program. Zacarias, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, was one of 13 women’s history interns who worked across the Smithsonian this summer, uncovering stories of remarkable American women-past and present-and learning about museum practice. Though she didn’t attend school past the age of 5 or 6, she never needed to be convinced of her own artistic merits.” “Here was a woman who worked as a field hand and domestic worker. ![]() ![]() When she came across Clementine Hunter, a self-taught artist born in the 1880s on a plantation in Natchitoches, she felt a connection. (Michael Barnes)įor Cosette Zacarias, a Smithsonian summer internship studying American women fiber artists led to a place she didn’t expect: her hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana.ĭuring her 8-week assignment with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Zacarias researched the lives of women fiber artists of the 19th through 21st centuries, to be featured in an upcoming exhibition, Women in Fiber. Pictured: Stella Hendricks, intern, National Portrait Gallery. Thirteen “Because of Her Story” interns spent the summer uncovering stories of remarkable American women and learning museum practice.
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